That's a great idea, as long as the criticism is honest (sometimes brutally honest) but constructive and as long the manager is actually receptive and opened to the feedback given by employees. My personal experience with managers, besides one exception, has been less than stellar so far. Working for small companies, the annual review (if it happens) is usually a joke and pretty much a one-way communication exchange where the manager fills out bullet points multiple choice questionnaires evaluating the employee from "need improvement" to "exceeds expectations".

I really like the idea of third party, a neutral interviewer trying to really get the big picture across a department or even an entire organization. A single member of a team can have a personal aversion with a particular management style / behavior but it is really rare when large groups of employees all tend to convey the same feelings and consequently a great way to get feedback across the board and thus detect patterns.

I don't want to divert the discussion but I have heard a lot about 360 interviews taking place in large companies and I am wondering if anyone could comment on those and tell us if they have been effective. Thank you.